USC vs. Alabama: Game Grades, Analysis for Tide

Alabama began its national title defense with a big statement in Arlington. The top-ranked Crimson Tide beat USC 52-6 on Saturday night behind the arm and legs of a true freshman quarterback. Jalen Hurts was the hero for Nick Saban's squad after being overlooked for the starting spot. He finished with 150 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. You can find the full box score here. 

Passing Offense

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B: Jalen Hurts came in and made big plays through the air including two touchdowns to ArDarius Stewart. The true freshman came in and finished 6-for-11 passing with 118 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. The starter, redshirt freshman Blake Barnett, had a rough start but made some good throws in the fourth quarter to extend the lead. He finished 5-for-6 with 100 yards and a touchdown. Cooper Bateman even came in to complete a 5-yard pass late in the game.

The Crimson Tide loses points based off the performance of the offensive line, which allowed the quarterbacks to be hurried on several occasions on Saturday night. The passing game also lacked consistency at times, heavily relying on the big plays.

Rushing Offense

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B+: The offensive line looked shaky at the beginning of the game but the rushing game's success went with the rest of the team. Damien Harris led the team with 138 yards on just nine carries but it was others who got scores on the ground. Hurts ran in twice for touchdowns, finishing with 32 yards on nine carries. Tuscaloosa native Bo Scarbrough scored the game's final touchdown and finished the night with 36 yards on 11 carries.

Hurts lost a fumble on his first read option of the game but the ground game eventually got going and was a major strength to extend the lead in the second half. 

Passing Defense

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A: The Crimson Tide's secondary made one mistake and it was on USC's opening drive. It led to three points for the Trojans but Marlon Humphrey and company turned things around quickly. The sophomore ran an interception back for a touchdown to give Alabama a 17-3 halftime lead. 

Alabama held USC to just 130 passing yards. Junior Anthony Averett was the new kid in the secondary and was picked on most of the night. He gave up the big pass play in the first quarter but managed to keep the talented Trojan receivers in check, despite being isolated many times throughout the game. 

Rushing Defense

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A+: Alabama clearly did not lose its strength from the 2015 season. The defensive front allowed one big run all night—a 46 yard run by USC's Ronald Jones II. However, the Trojans had 29 other attempts on the ground that went for a total of 18 yards.

The Crimson Tide's stats were helped a bit by four sacks and a botched snap on a USC punt. Reuben Foster had a huge part of the night, laying some big hits on USC runners. 

Special Teams

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B: There was not much to fuss about on the special teams end but there was not much to praise either. Adam Griffith made his only field goal attempt of the night but gave speedster Adoree Jackson too many opportunities on kickoffs instead of finding the back of the end zone. Punter J.K. Scott has a highlight of the night, having a punt go out of bounds inside the 5-yard line. The junior finished with a 47.0 average on five punts.

Trevon Diggs got the opening kickoff return and ran it back 24 yards but never got another opportunity. Calvin Ridley had plenty of fair catches while returning punts for the Crimson Tide. The star receiver probably should have called for a fair catch on another occasion where he was hit hard; Alabama fans do not like to see that.

Coaching

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B-: Whatever game was being played with the quarterback situation over the last two weeks, it seems like Blake Barnett was not the right choice for the starting job. Jalen Hurts took over and fumbled but the coaching staff did not panic and let him settle in. That decision worked out pretty well. 

Lane Kiffin enjoyed his revenge game against USC, calling up some big plays for the Crimson Tide. He may have been the one in charge of "running up the score" with two late touchdowns for Alabama.